amd phenom II x4 970 black edition replacment?

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

so im looking to replace this cpu with a more powerful one for my system since it is currently the bottle neck. however, i am unsure on what one to get and i know if i get the wrong socket, i will have wasted money. i do not know how to tell what my motherboard type is as i lost the box many years ago. i do know that it is an asus republic of gamers motherboard.

im also looking to go as cheap as possible, but get a much better processor. preferably under $150 but i will go as high as $200 if i have to. thank you guys in advance.

mouse24 · Jan 28, 2014

Well first we are gonna need to know what your mobo is. Uhhh, HWmonitor or CPU-Z will tell you what it is.

If its an AM3 board you are pretty much out of luck. AM3+ and you could grab a 8320.

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

mouse24 :

am3? uhm from what i do know is that it was version 3, i remember a version 4 of the board not sure if that helps. so if i have an AM3 do i also have to replace the ram and graphics cards as well with the cpu?

i can say what board i have when i get home.

killakallies · Jan 28, 2014

AM3 is the processor socket in which your Phenom CPU is made for, once you can run CPU-Z and give us your motherboard information (or just post a screenshot) we will be able to help you find which CPU's are options for you to upgrade too. We will not know for sure which socket type your motherboard has until we get that motherboard information as AM3 CPU's will work with AM3+ motherboards, at this point any suggestions are strictly speculation.

As for your RAM and GPU, you will not need to replace them but you might want to later on down the road after getting a better processor as once you clear one bottleneck another one usually will form unless your running a well optimized system.

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

killakallies :

i hope my system is optimized, i was considering getting more ram, but i think a cpu will be more beneficial first to see what happens.

i do know i have 8gb of ram crosair i beleive they are ddr3, and for graphics cards i have 2 AMD Radeon HD 6800 in cross fire mode, both 1gb gddr5 each. i have posted below the system information from another post a few weeks ago.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/21/2013, 21:29:04
Machine name: MILKY-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130828-1532)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 12/09/10 21:08:39 Ver: 08.00.15
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 970 Processor (4 CPUs), ~4.0GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8190MB RAM
Page File: 5854MB used, 10524MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

again thanks for the help guys.

WhiteSnake91 · Jan 28, 2014

they're pricey but you could get a Phenom x6 1090t or 1100t and overclock them if you don't want to spend money on an AM3+ mobo and fx8320. The Phenom II's IPC is actually better than the FX line

killakallies · Jan 28, 2014

System information you provided is helpful but it doesn't include the motherboard make/model. I'm sure your system will be fine after the CPU upgrade as long as that is the only issue you are currently having.

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

killakallies :

as far as i know there realy isnt any besides maybe flickering i see on my monitor during certian games and certian scenes within games, like its some kind of i beleive its called graphics tearing? where theres a line that will appear across the whole screen. i dont know if its cause of the graphics cards or the monitor. but if its either ill have to open a new forum on that.
oh i do have a self circulating liquid cooling system on this cpu, will i need a new one if i replace the cpu?

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

WhiteSnake91 :

i was trying to overclock this particular cpu as well, but i was having all sorts of issues with it making my system very unstable. i did manage to get it up by about .2 hertz, but other than that i couldnt do anything else before it kept killing my pc.

killakallies · Jan 28, 2014

Your water cooling system should still work fine no need to replace it. On a side note about over clocking you should trying using the AMD catalyst software's built in CPU Overdrive utility. Will test different frequencies for you and then let you choose on a slider which of the frequencies it found stable that best work for programs you run and your cooling solution. Note I still recommend running something like Prime95 with small FFT's on the frequency level you choose just to make sure it's stable under heavy load.

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

killakallies :

i remember using that utility, the overdrive, and the tests it did to find the best frequencies kept crashing the system when it found them. its kind of why im wanting to upgrade.

WhiteSnake91 · Jan 28, 2014

you need a new motherboard or power supply then. Which is the actual model/name of your motherboard and power supply? I recommend 8 core 8320

in that specs you posted it showed your 970 at 4.0ghz, that's about the best you're going to get out of the Phenom II architecture

killakallies · Jan 28, 2014

It will crash when it gets to an unstable point and then after restarting it should allow you to select any frequency under the point it crashed. That's how it knows when it has reached the max frequency possible without tweaking the BIOS manually. Did it crash on the first frequency it tried?

Even if your system has only an AM3 motherboard it may be possible to upgrade to a Phenom II X6 Black Edition 1100T. While a little spendier than a new CPU it's allot cheaper than buying a new motherboard and power supply to support a new FX series CPU.

mouse24 · Jan 28, 2014

For gaming its not really worth it to go with a phenom 2 x6 vs a x6.

killakallies · Jan 28, 2014

Odd I wasn't aware they made a Phenom x6, I thought only the Phenom II came in a six core configuration.

mouse24 · Jan 28, 2014

killakallies :

Oh that was actually a typo, sorry. I meant x6 vs a x4....

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

theres the motherboard specs i have.

killakallies · Jan 28, 2014

Your motherboard only supports AM3 processors. Below I have included links to your motherboards compatible processors, a list of Phenom II processors from AMD, and a link to a listing for a Phenom II X6 1100T on ebay. It also appears the FX-8120 does have beta support for your motherboard so you may be able to take that route if you are willing to risk beta BIOS, I have included a link at the very bottom for a listing of one on Ebay. I own an FX8120 and it overclocks like a dream just using the Catalyst Software.

Support page w/ CPU compatibility:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/CROSSHAIR_IV_FORMULA/#support

AMD Phenom II Processor Comparison:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/phenom-ii/Pages/phenom-ii-model-number-comparison.aspx

Ebay listing Phenom:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-Black-1100T-3-3GHz-Black-Edition-HDE00ZFBK6DGR-/281251806476?pt=CPUs&hash=item417be9fd0c

Ebay listing FX8120:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-FX-8120-3-1-GHz-Eight-Core-FD8120FRGUBOX-Processor-/301080323783?pt=CPUs&hash=item4619c926c7

mouse24 · Jan 28, 2014

Ouch, 200 bucks... They are just gouging you now. Could spend another maybe 30-40 bucks, grab a cheap i5 (170 ish) + any Z75/Z77/B75/etc (Price depends, generally around 80 bucks for a meh non overclocking board. Miles better performance also.

Feel free to ignore me incase you don't have the money. Just throwing options out there.

Edit: forgot to compensate for needing a mobo with xfire, that will increase the price a bit, sorry.

Edit2: yeah cheapest I could find would be 270, 170 for cpu + 100 for mobo with xfire... Bah, there goes that idea. Could always save up.

Milky Kou · Jan 28, 2014

mouse24 :

personally i dont like the intel cores, they are always seem to break on me when i play around with games and programs, idk why. that and of the many computers ive put together, the amd ones seem to last longer, least from what people tell me. anyways thanks all, these will help me out alot. ill see what i can do on getting a new 8core.

WhiteSnake91 · Jan 29, 2014

fx 8320 is about 150, 990fx good board like Gigabyte/Asus is about 120-130

amd phenom II x4 970 black edition replacment?

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